1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to domesticated pets. More specifically, the present invention relates to litter box accessories for domesticated cats.
2. Related Art
The use of cat litter as a defecation substrate in litter boxes has been widely used for decades. However, the major drawback with the use of cat litter has been the unwanted transfer of cat litter out of the litter box and onto the surrounding floors. Such transfer occurs in a variety of ways, including (1) litter tossed out of the litter box while the cat robustly digs with its paws in the litter box, (2) litter that gets between the toes and upon the hairs of the cat that is then transferred when the cat flips or shakes its paws to rid them of attached litter, or when the cat walks away from the litter box, and (3) cat litter that the owner of the cat drops outside the litter box as the owner cleans the litter box.
The result of this tracking, flipping, tossing and spilling is an unsightly area surrounding the litter box, grit under human foot if the floor surface is hard, tracking of cat litter throughout the pet owner's house by human and pet foot traffic, and possible staining and destruction of a carpeted floor surface. Litter deposited outside the litter box is often tracked by pet or human foot traffic to other parts of the home, resulting in further sanitation problems.
This tracking problem has been exasperated in recent years with the invention and increased use of clumping cat litter. The particulate size of individual pieces of clumping cat litter are much smaller and finer than traditional "non-clumping" cat litter, thereby resulting in an increased amount of tracking as greater numbers of the smaller particles of clumping litter are able to be carried and flipped out of the litter box by the cat.
The unsightly, gritty, and unsanitary litter scattered outside the litter box is cause for much human aggravation and has been coped with unsuccessfully by the use of a variety of devices. Some of these devices have been designed to catch only the litter tracked on the bottoms of paws and do nothing to corral litter strewn about by other means. Some of these devices are so easy for the cat to avoid stepping on or in that they are essentially ineffective. Other inventions have been cumbersome in appearance and difficult to empty.
Furthermore, these prior art devices have done little, if anything, to control the mess incurred during litter box clean-up. Prior art methods of coping with the mess have involved manual and frequent sweeping, vacuuming, scrubbing and the like.
Many devices have been invented for the reduction and elimination of the tracking problem. For instance: both U.S. Pat. No. 3,246,630 (Dearing, et al.) and U.S. Pat. No. 3,885,523 (Coleman) disclose a "sanitary facility for animals" comprising litter boxes having a built-in screen upon which a cat walks to dislodge cat litter from the cat's paws. Other inventions disclose apparatuses causing the cat to walk across a grated or screened surface to remove cat litter from the cats' paws. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,430 (Casmira); U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,366 (Harvey); U.S. Pat. No. 5,195,464 (Mutter); U.S. Pat. No. 5,220,886 (Hyde); U.S. Pat. No. 5,388,550 (Noble); and U.S. Pat. No. 5,361,725 (Baillie, et al.).
Another device, U.S. Pat. No. 4,838,202 (Neu) discloses an "animal litter container" comprising a five-sided box into which a litter box is placed. The Neu invention also is intended to be "easily accessible through both the top and one or more of the sides."
Other patents disclose litter boxes having sloped surfaces for the removal of cat litter from cat's paws. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,090 (Canady, Jr.) discloses a "scatter-resistant litter box" having a sloped front compartment with a sloped, carpeted surface for the removal of cat litter from cat's paws; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,302 (Walter) discloses a "pet waste containment system" alternatively having a sloped, ramp for the collection of litter.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,769,026 (Kohn) discloses an enclosure for a litter box having carpeted pathways for the removal of cat litter from cats' paws.
Another U.S. Pat. No. 5,797,352 (Ebert) discloses a paw cleaning litter mat for placing outside the front of a litter box for the removal of cat litter from cats' paws.
Two design patents, U.S. Pat. No. Des. 351,693 (Sutton) and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 351,693 (Evans), show other methods of collecting tracked litter, each comprising trays set in front of the litter box.
However, none of these patents disclose an enclosure for a litter box that has a singular entrance; that catches litter scattered by a variety of means, from being tracked on the bottom of paws and spilled from the litter box, to being flipped and tossed by the cat's paws; that is adjustable in the combined size of the litter box and apparatus; is easy to empty by merely picking the apparatus up, tiling to the side and pouring into a receptacle; that is lightweight; that is low maintenance; that adds to the aesthetic appearance of the litter box area; that provides a work area in which to clean the litter box without spilling or dropping litter on the surrounding floor; that greatly reduces the frequency that the surrounding area must be cleaned; that provides increased sanitation for the home; and that is used in combination with an existing litter box to make that litter box more efficient.